[...with a subject like that do you expect me not to bite?!? I wonder if
anyone was timing the reaction speed...]
> Heracles wrote:
>
> I know the title of this note is a little extreme, but on the advice of
> several members of SLUG i decided to give Debian 2.2 a try. What a
> mistake!
Absolutely. If you're happy with your current distribution (and from the
sounds of things a few weeks ago, you were), stick with it. There is zero
point in changing from what you're comfortable with, to something new, for
no reason.
> It usually takes me about 30 minutes to install and configure a default
> SuSE system - I have been working on installing Debian for four (4) days
> so far and have not yet been able to get it to work properly.
The first time I installed Debian I cheated a bit. (Read: I made it *harder*
for myself.) I did it in two goes, the first to get slink installed from the
basic floppies (enough to get an ethernet card going), and the second to
upgrade to potato (then frozen) from the UTS network. Combining the time it
took to complete both parts, it probably took about half an hour.
(Then Anand came along and made it the wonderful SLUG server we use every
day!)
When I've installed from CD, I've gone from blank hard disk to server in 20
minutes (note that doesn't include X or other desktop prettiness). If you
haven't already tried the Tasks install method, that's where the fun lies.
dselect is the Devil's work, and though some Debianites (Gus! Masochist!)
swear by it, I would quite happily take it to a dark alley and give it the
ESR treatment.
> I had to use this windoze machine to get back on the net - Debian just
> keeps killing the ppp daemon, or if I manage to get the connection I can
> ping the ISP's machines, but can't get a browser or email client to work.
Yes, that's a recognised problem with Potato. Sadly the release team were
fed after midnight the morning of its release, and... well, the inevitable
happened. You can find more information about this on the debian-gremlins
mailing list.
Debian did it?!?
Seriously, it sounds more like you haven't read some of the applicable
documentation or used the best tools provided with the distribution. Taking
in an entire distribution's worth of niceties (and Debian has more than it's
fair share) takes quite a while.
I'm was a victim of distribution safety-blanket hugging. It wasn't until (I
think) Thom pointed out Debian's excellent task-dialup and pppconfig that I
knew what I was missing!
It takes a fair while to learn the ins and outs of any OS.
> What a waste of time and effort!
I had a good few hours of reading when I started using Debian. I think to
get the most out of the OS, it's a must. Also, one of the great advantages
of Debian as an operating system is the (almost pathalogically) helpful
people... You can always ask! :)
There's three computer-related (okay, non-programming though) things that
never fail to blow my mind on a daily basis: Linux, Debian and GNOME - and
the amount of time and effort that has been put into them is humbling.
- Jeff
-- [EMAIL PROTECTED] ------------------------------- http://linux.conf.au/ --
Ye shall be cursed to fall in love so easily, and yet be so
cold of heart as never to express it.
--
SLUG - Sydney Linux User Group Mailing List - http://slug.org.au/
More Info: http://slug.org.au/lists/listinfo/slug
